The Bad, The Ugly, & The Cringeworthy: Dolphins Vs. Ravens

What in the ever-loving hell did I just watch? Seriously, as I wrote this at 6:01 am on Friday morning, I actually had to Google the final score of last night’s Dolphins Ravens game. For one moment I thought, “maybe I dreamed that shit last night”.

Unfortunately, it was no dream — Miami is just that big of a train wreck this season.

The Miami Dolphins (4-3), surprisingly enough under head coach Adam Gase, came into Week 8 with the second-best record in the NFL over a 17-game span.

Additionally, Matt Moore was coming off an impressive come from behind win after replacing injured QB Jay Cutler. He was previously an absolute road warrior, throwing 15 touchdowns and only three interceptions in his last six road games. However, none of these positives really mattered, as the final result of Thursday night football was a Bully Beatdown massacre of the Miami Dolphins. The Baltimore Ravens (4-4) cruised with and without Joe Flacco to a lopsided 40-0 win.

On offense, I think it is safe to say, “Maybe it’s not Jay Cutler”.

Matt Moore went 25-of-44 for 176 yards (QBR: 47.2) and two interceptions, both of which were returned for touchdowns. What about Jay Ajayi, the Jay-Train? How did he perform against a team who came into Week 8 with the worst run defense in the league? The short answer – not well. After busting his longest run of the season (21 yards) early in the game, Ajayi finished with 13 carries for 23 yards and four catches for 18 yards. In a two game span, the 24-year old has rushed 36 times for 74 yards (2.1 yards per carry)

Defensively, the Dolphins did not play much better, and the storyline most everyone will be talking about is dirty plays.

With Joe Flacco leaving the game at the 3:00 minute mark of the 2nd quarter, the Ravens relied heavily on running back Alex Collins. The journeyman chewed through the Dolphins’ very expensive defensive line, finishing with over 100-yards rushing for the first time in his career.

There is no way to spin this; the Miami Dolphins from plays to players looked terrible last night. The play calling was off, the offensive line struggled, and the defense was on the field for far too long.

Look for Adam Gase & Co. to try and bounce back in Week 9 against a healthy and dangerous Oakland Raiders team. Fortunately, they will have home field advantage.

After the pass above was completed for eight yards, Mallet threw a grand total of six passes in the second half. Of those attempts, only two were completed for 12 total yards.

Why does this matter?

Because the Dolphins knew what was coming, and yet they could not stop it. Sure, 14 of the 20 points scored in the second half came off pick-6s (videos above), but Miami knew the Baltimore offense would go run-heavy. Despite that, they were unable to keep Alex Collins and Buck Allen contained. Blame coaching or the defense, but stacking the box and forcing Mallet to throw seemed like an obvious choice to help keep Miami’s offense on the field.

Just a thought

The Miami Dolphins have over $30 million worth of quarterbacks watching from the sidelines.

The Cringworthy

The Kiko Fiasco

Was the hit dirty or not? That is not for me to decide. But, let’s also remember, this is not the first time this season that questionable calls have been made on the field.

The reason I bring this up is due to the chance of suspension that now looms for Kiko Alonso. If Kiko does get suspended, do you also suspend Ryan Jensen? Jensen retaliated by pushing Kiko, knocking his helmet off, and initiating a scuffle.

The answer is no, no you do not. You handle the issue on the field. Are you telling me New York didn’t watch this hit during the game? The Refs couldn’t have reviewed the hit?

I would be completely fine if Kiko Alonso was ejected from the game, but suspending him after the fact would show giant holes in the decision making of on-field refs.

If you suspend Kiko, suspend the refs who decided to keep him on the field as well. Also let’s go ahead and dock some of that pay!